Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 205 Are there really people born with knowledge?
This is strange.

It's worth noting that TikTok had only been online for less than three months at this point. Some time ago, ByteDance conducted an internal valuation of 1500 million RMB to facilitate the legal investment of company funds.

Zhang Ming values ​​TiTok.

At this point, TikTok's various algorithms, streaming capabilities, user base, and scale had not yet taken off; it hadn't snowballed yet, and nobody knew how it would eventually turn out.

Whether he could get up or not, Zhang Ming himself was unsure at this point.

Therefore, Zhang Ming was stunned when Chu Chen proposed to invest in TiTok. Of course, this kind of behavior of investing in a subsidiary directly without going through the parent company is also very common in the industry.

In its early days, TiTok, aside from its initial rounds of investment, sought external financing separately, with TiTok having its own valuation and raising funds independently.

Even Starry Sky Wallpaper still has Tencent shares at this time.

So, the investment logic is sound; it's just that Zhang Ming still doesn't quite understand it.

If we're talking about before November...

If Chu Chen said he wanted to invest in TikTok, Zhang Ming would probably think he was joking and wouldn't discuss it in detail, since Xingchen had already achieved some success at that time.

But he still gives people the feeling of being a "rising star in the industry".

Even if your "Final Battle" has a huge influence and a good reputation, its annual revenue will only be two billion.
Even if your StarTap has a huge user base and becomes a global phenomenon, it might not survive long enough for Tencent to take action.

Accepting investment from such a company means there's no telling when they'll go bankrupt.
However, by November, although only a month or two had passed, the situation had completely changed. The impact of Startap's three-pronged attack in October was not limited to the gaming industry.

Its impact is far more dramatic than imagined.

In the Chinese internet industry, "revenue" is a measure of strength.

With StarTap reaching 30 billion views, these two figures signify a qualitative leap resulting from quantitative change. From this moment on, most people began to believe that StarTap Games would not be a flash in the pan.

Keep in mind that ByteDance's total annual revenue was only 6 billion yuan at that time. In terms of revenue, judging from the revenue report in November, Xingchen's annual revenue might be higher than theirs.

Therefore, when Chu Chen personally visited ByteDance.

Zhang Ming personally led senior executives downstairs to greet them.

but.

Although he personally went to take over, Zhang Ming was initially hesitant about whether to give up TiTok's shares.

After all, TiTok is still in the verification period and doesn't lack money for promotion.

And even if they wanted money, how much could Xingchen provide?
It's worth noting that Zhang Ming estimated that TiTok's first phase of promotion would require at least 10 billion yuan in funding. Could the other party come up with that amount of money?

Regardless of whether Xingchen can afford it or not, Zhang Ming was too embarrassed to ask someone he had just met for this money.

Therefore, his plan was to "host" this "Internet" upstart.

Then everyone went back to doing what they were doing.

However, in the ensuing conversation, Zhang Ming discovered...

Although Chu Chen's actions seemed like a spur-of-the-moment decision, they weren't actually impulsive.

Zhang Ming initially planned for the meeting to last one hour, but it has now gone on for an hour and a half.

The more the two talked, the more Zhang Ming felt a strange excitement. What impressed Zhang Ming about Chu Chen was his vision and development plan.

是 的
It's admiration.

Zhang Ming rarely uses this word to describe a person.

But that was the feeling Chu Chen gave him at the beginning.

After Chu Chen explained his purpose and expressed his desire to invest in TiTok, Zhang Ming asked Chu Chen why he wanted to invest in TiTok.

This was originally just a casual question asked in a social setting.

After all, the other party was in the game industry, and Zhang Ming didn't expect them to give him any concrete answers.

His plan was to wait for Chu Chen to finish explaining his superficial understanding of short videos, and then he would refute him with reason and evidence, pointing out the difficulties and uncertainties involved.

This way, the other party will naturally back down, and both sides can then shift the topic to other collaborations. He still has some interest in Xingchen Tap's traffic; if TiTok really wants to promote itself in the future, it could also buy some traffic from Xingchen Tap.

"Mr. Chu works in the gaming industry, why would he be interested in our small short video project?"

Zhang Ming picked up the teacup, holding it very calmly.

However, Chu Chen did not offer any polite words in response; instead, he stabbed him directly with a knife.

"Mr. Zhang, what do you think TiTok is doing?" Chu Chen asked in return.

Zhang Ming paused for a moment, then replied, "Of course, it's about creating content, building a short video content community that young people like."

“No.” Chu Chen shook his head. “From what I’ve observed, what you’re trying to do isn’t content creation, it’s distribution.”

"What users upload is not videos, but data. You don't need to judge what is good content, but you need to train algorithms to judge what users consider good content."

"Currently, traffic sources are search and social media, but that's Tencent's approach. If you want to create the next traffic source, you can't copy Tencent."

"The future traffic driver will be 'recommendation'; whoever can push suitable content to users will control users' 'time'."

After he finished speaking, Zhang Ming's hand, which was holding a teacup, froze in mid-air.

ByteDance has certainly had internal discussions about algorithmic recommendations, but they themselves haven't developed a complete framework for these topics, let alone an outsider.
He put down his teacup and leaned forward unconsciously.

"Mr. Chen, please continue."

"The biggest reason I want to invest in you is that Starry Sky is also a global company, and TiTok's model can also achieve globalization."

Globalization?

"Yes, cultural barriers are real, but algorithms are universal. As long as your algorithm is good, you don't need to think about what users in a particular region like to watch."

If Zhang Ming was only slightly surprised before, he was now sitting up straight.

Some of the things Chu Chen mentioned were things he had already figured out, such as the recommendation mechanism.

But there are some things that even he only has a vague concept of, such as algorithms being able to penetrate cultural barriers.
But because it was blurry, Zhang Ming could better sense that every word Chu Chen said was on the right note.

It's a wonderful feeling, like someone walking through a dark tunnel and suddenly someone turns on a light at the end, not only illuminating the way ahead but also showing you what the scenery is like outside the tunnel.

As a result, Zhang Ming asked more and more questions, from the cold start of user growth to the construction of the content pool, and then to how to prevent top users from solidifying the community ecosystem.

Chu Chen answered faster and faster, almost as soon as Zhang Ming asked a question, his answer was already flowing smoothly.

"What about monetization models? Simply relying on advertising will severely damage the user experience."

Zhang Ming raised a difficult question that he had been pondering for a long time.

Why must advertising disrupt the user experience?

"In-feed ads make the ads themselves part of the content."

“In the television era, there were people who would watch TV shopping ads. Mr. Zhang, you’re not just making a short video app, you’re using short videos to build a completely new consumption scenario.”

Towards the end, Zhang Ming was hesitant to continue asking questions.

He wasn't afraid of his trade secrets being stolen; rather, he was starting to lose his composure after asking so many questions.

Zhang Ming, who has always been seen as a "genius" by others, once found it difficult to understand how others perceived him, but now he probably understands it better.

Like his former classmates, they couldn't understand why he could get full marks on every exam.

Zhang Ming really couldn't understand why Chu Chen, a game company owner, knew more about TiTok than he, the founder.

At that moment, he felt the hairs on his body stand on end.

At one point, he even felt like he was dreaming, that the Chu Chen in front of him wasn't real, but a fictional character he had created in his dream. But the temperature of the tea told him otherwise.

This is not a dream.

However, this news did not bring him to his senses; instead, it plunged him into an even deeper shock, a feeling that is truly hard to describe.

To put it simply, it's like you suddenly meet someone who claims to be from the future. You don't believe them at first, but then they explain exactly what you want to do.
Is there truly someone in the world who is born with innate knowledge?
When Zhang Ming put down his cup, only his assistant could see that the president of a company valued at tens of billions, sitting in an air-conditioned room, had his vest completely soaked with sweat.
(End of this chapter)